I Hate It
by Chicary
Summary: For his third birthday, Atemu gives Yuugi an… interesting gift. Fada knows best, right? Not really. Side to Ties that Bind, Ties that Break


**A/N: **Side on-shot to _Ties that Bind, Ties that Break_ because I miss writing these scenes. Warning: First person POV but the speaker is isn't important. Also, let's assume Atemu is an unconventional pharaoh, which I think is also hinted at in the show as well.

Fada = father

For Serenity12 :)

**I hate It**

Prince Yuugi was the centre of attention in the huge banquet hall decorated to the height of Egyptian décor and stuffed with people and food. Wherever he went, through all the people he wove through and the toes he stepped on, people greeted him with a low bow and a "happy birthday," my prince. When he wanted wine, the owner of whoever's clothing he was tugging on to ask for it would offer his cup immediately. When he wanted food from the out-of-reach table, five people would rush to grab whatever platter they happened to think he was reaching for and offer it to him… on their knees.

"And da umpress from da noobia country told me she's gonna get lots and lots o' fruit for me da next time she comes."

"That's wonderful, prince."

Unfortunately, this was part of my job. To believe his stories. I certainly don't complain about it as much as I led on because, in reality, this was easy. The imaginative little thing would spew on and on about how the other children were completely enamoured by his "prince-ness" or how all the dancers were secretly hiding gifts from him in their billowing drapery. He'd follow these things up with how sorry he felt for me because I was a mere servant and didn't have a birthday. Because only royals and nobles had birthdays and others simply didn't. Apparently he'd heard that from Priest Mahaado's apprentice. That girl makes me wonder sometimes.

In reality, there weren't _that_ many nobles or royalty in the place and many of the Pharaoh's guests were, more or less, tradesmen and their families. In his admirable honestly, the pharaoh's invitations specified the exact reason for the festivities and, to his dismay, many simply weren't interested. Those who'd contracted with him in the past attended (with nothing but political purposes in mind) as well as those who owed him a favour. To say the great pharaoh was disappointed was an understatement but, instead of letting this fall to ruin, he opened the doors to anyone who'd be interested in sharing this special day with him and his little boy. The guests were genuinely happy, which was exactly what pharaoh wanted and the prince didn't know any better, which was also what pharaoh wanted.

I had a more difficult task at hand, and that was to keep him distracted until pharaoh arrived. This was an oddity, not only because pharaoh had worked so hard to appease his child (in my mind anyways, although he said it was because he genuinely wanted to see the prince happy) but because he didn't tell anyone what he'd be doing or why.

"What else did the Nubian empress say?"

The prince scratched his neck, parting two thick necklaces he insisted on wearing to the event. He chewed his bottom lip, puffing his cheeks in a serious, story-brewing expression. "She said dat… dat…" His thinking expression deepened, "Dat if I go ta her country, she's gonna give me a horse!"

"But you already have lots of horses, right prince?"

"But dey're fada's horses an he doesn lemme ride dem cause he says dey're too big for me."

"But he rides them with you sometimes, right prince?"

"But it's not da same! I wanna ride ma own horse cause most o' da time, fada is holdin me and won lemme sit on it by maself."

As I recalled, the first time the Pharaoh offered to ride with his son, Yuugi was so afraid of the thing that he unwittingly startled it, forced it onto its hind legs (which scared him even more) and then into a gallop so fast none of the guards could catch up to it.

"So how would her horse be different from the ones here?"

"Well cause - " The prince tugged at his jewellery, which was probably starting to irritate him, "Its supposed ta only be dis big." He said, levelling his hand at chest height. _His _chest height, that is.

"Oh wow! That's interesting! How come there aren't any horses that small in Egypt?"

He crunched his nose, brain working diligently, "Cause dey only got dem in noobia. Dat's why."

"Maybe you can ask her, which one of the ladies over there is she?"

That probably stumped him. His enormous eyes scanned the room, brain working at top capacity as he searched for a suitable "Nubian empress." I couldn't help but enjoy this, his expression was just delightful.

"Dat's her." And, to no surprise of mine, he pointed to a fish monger's wife.

"Attention guests!" We both looked up as one of Pharaoh Atemu's personal guards stepped into the room, "Sa-Re Pharaoh Bes Horemakhet Atemu Khonsu, third member of the tenth dynasty, arrives (1)."

Everyone in the room bowed at various heights. Some did so awkwardly due to the food and drinks in their hands, while others were simply not used to the courtly protocol. I fell prostrate and tugged Yuugi down with me, gently pushing him to his knees. It wasn't difficult; he was only three years of age after all.

Pharaoh Atemu stepped into the room shortly after followed by two men carrying a small stone tablet between them. At his signal, the men held back while he addressed his audience. "Honoured Guests, please don't stop on my account. Today my home is yours: eat, drink and enjoy yourselves. It's the Prince's birthday, not mine."

Some people chuckled softly, others looked at each other bewildered, but that was pharaoh for you. Priest Mahaado whispered something in his ear but he shooed it off. "And what's a birthday without gifts?" he gestured toward the pile of miscellaneous items in the corner, "And I can see by these gracious offerings that everyone brought him the team of horses he wanted." More chucking, more awkward silences and more priests whispering things.

But he didn't pay too much attention. Either that or he was very good at masking whatever it was he was trying to mask. It was probably the latter. He continued in the same manner, "I'm sure my boy is expecting something from me as well and I don't want to be one to disappoint."

Yuugi's ears perked like that of desert jackal. He tried to wriggle out of my grasp but I assumed it was a better idea to let the pharaoh finish first. One learns about these things after awhile.

People looked like they were waiting for him to say more but that wasn't the case. All eyes were on him as he and the two men crossed the large room, semi-circled the banquet table and stopped in front of Yuugi. With one flick of his wrist, the pharaoh brought the chorus of people to a standing position, including the prince and I. I mean, the prince and myself.

"What is it?" The words popped out of the prince's mouth. Yuugi had seen tablets like these before so, I assumed, he was referring to the image on it.

"Ah," Pharaoh said, with an excited gleam in his eyes. He knelt down on one knee, to follow his son's gaze, "This is something very new and interesting. And it took me a long time find it."

"Really?" Yuugi's excitement was contagious. A few of the guests smiled.

Pharaoh nodded, his hopes soaring. Obviously he couldn't wait to see his son's expression when the "gift" was released. The crowd watched in anticipation as the men carefully set the tablet on the ground and stood back in reserve. A light traced around the outline of the image like some kind of magical knife cutting it out of its backdrop. The whole thing shone for a few seconds (and at this distance, it wasn't a very pleasant experience) before dimming again to reveal a solid object standing in front of it. This was how monsters were generally summoned but… I wasn't even sure if this was a monster.

"He's called 'Marshmallon.' What do you think?" Pharaoh asked, probably at the height of anticipation.

The guests stared at Yuugi, who stared at the pink upside-down peanut-shaped blob the pharaoh referred to as "Marshmallon." Eyes darted back and forth, trying to establish some sort of agreement amongst the masses. There was definitely a consensus.

I couldn't help but grimace as the prince poked at it. The thing had the texture of camel saliva mixed with the medication the healers used to seal up a wound. "I hate it."

The silence was so perfect you could hear the rats scurrying behind the walls.

Pharaoh's expression fell like a load of mortar and his eyes whipped around the room for a split second before turning back to Yuugi, "Is there something wrong with him?" He asked with concern, "I'd thought you'd like it since you play with Kuriboh so often."

Yuugi poked it again, and was awarded with an upside-down frown from the upside-down face, "'Cause it looks odd and its not coot at all, fada!" He gave it an ugly look and turned pleadingly up to his father with an expression that said something akin to 'what in hathor were _you_ thinking?'

"Ah, well…" Pharaoh gave the Marshmallon an apologetic look, "He's just like Kuriboh in many ways, son. They even have the same attack strength!"

The nervous tension in the room had not dissipated. In fact, I think it got worse. Poor pharaoh (something I'd never say out loud). Someone coughed.

"But Kureeebo is soft and coot and – and it goes - purrrrrrrrrkt" He made a throaty spitting sound and threw his arms out in the air. I think it meant, 'explode,' " - when you touch it so it's grweat fun. Dis ding is strwange and oogy!"

The upside-down face was clearly upset… I think. Its mouth turned downwards, I mean upwards, or was it upwards? "That's a very unkind thing to say. You'll upset him."

"But I dun like it!" Yuugi whined, tugging at his father's arm and waving a finger at it, "Send it back, fada, I wan Kureeebo."

The Marshmallon had had enough. Its rosy cheeks flared red and its brow creased in rage. The thing scrunched its head into its torso for a moment before bounding forward and biting the prince's finger. Everyone, including pharaoh, gasped as Yuugi jerked his arm back and gripped the bloody digit painfully. Wetness brimmed his eyes and he bit his lower lip but instead of the oasis of tears I assumed would follow, he knitted his eyebrows in anger and kicked the thing in the roundest part of its belly. The creature countered by head-butting the prince right in _his_ belly, causing him to stumble backwards. I caught him in time but the prince was soon out of my arms with renewed determination. Pharaoh attempted to recall the Marshmallon but by then Yuugi had run full speed at the creature and tackled it to the ground. His little tiara flew off his brow and rolled away as the prince attacked with fervour, biting, kicking, punching and doing what looked like a mix of all three to the so-called monster.

"Yuugi stop!" Pharaoh hollered in dismay, but this obviously fell on deaf ears.

The two tumbled in a mad passion, neither showing signs of relenting. At one point, the prince's shient flipped up, causing some of the little girls in the audience (for now it had become an audience) to cover their eyes and giggle shyly. The Yuugi-Marshmallon wheel rolled under the dining table, nearly pulling down the crimson cloth hanging over the edges. Fortunately, several people graciously caught the platters before they crashed to the ground. For a moment, the two disappeared from view and it seemed like a long time before the remerged on the other side. Guests darted out of the way to avoid the energized prince and his opponent, many of them spilling wine and food in their wake.

"Ahhhhgrrgggrrhrrhrrhhrr," The prince gave a powerful battlecry as he pounded the thing like a rabid baker.

"Yuugi stop!!! You'll hurt yourself." Pharaoh begged, by now looking like he had some sort of Nile illness. He tried to run after the child but the unusually calm Master Mahaado held him back.

The Priests stood back with the same horror pharaoh displayed mirrored in all their faces. Despite the circumstances, the commoners were less appalled, since they must have identified this unruly behaviour in their own (non-royal) children. Unfortunately, those who intervened were injured in the process, either bitten by the Marshmallon's razor-sharp teeth or beaten by the prince's small but deadly fists.

"Anzu, go after him at once!" Pharaoh commanded, pointing at the colourful mess barrelling around the room. Fortunately, I was liberated from my impossible task when Master Mahaado stepped forward.

"Honoured guests," He declared, regally, "Your prince needs your support."

I could shortly believe the words he spoke before he cupped his hands around his mouth and followed up with, "I believe in you my prince."

An awkward murmur rippled through the crowd before someone shouted, "Take faith, prince!" And from another pocket of the room, "Slay that beast!"

"Horus be with you!"

"Throttle that monster!"

"Destroy it!"

"You have our support!" That was the "Nubian Empress."

"We believe in you!" That was I.

Indeed pharaoh could truly depend on his closest friend and this was one of the many instances that proved that. He signed with relief and joined in with cheers of his own, encouraging his, still mortified priests, to do the same. All but Seto and Shimon followed suit, rather uncomfortably mind you, but followed suit nonetheless. Despite the fuel of encouragement, the toddler was actually tiring rather quickly. Pharaoh whispered something to Master Mahaado, who nodded in understanding and sent a beam of light from his Millennium Ring straight at the Marshmallon. It became obvious what this did when the pink blob flopped over for a few moments, giving way to several direct hits from the panting and sweating prince.

Lady Isis covered her smile with an elegant hand but contributed to this skewed battle with a beam from her Necklace. Master Karim and Master Shada did the same after a few hard glances from pharaoh but Master Seto and Master Shimon maintained their reluctance.

This clearly fair battle ended with the Marshmallon permanently on its side with a large rose-coloured tongue hanging out of its mouth. The exhausted but triumphant prince sat proudly on the creature, firmly maintaining his seat despite the up and down motion of the thing's body.

"Prince Aten Yuugi is victorious!" Master Mahaado announced with exaggerated enthusiasm, "Truly he is the pharaoh's son!"

"A king indeed!"

"May he live forever!"

"Truly blessed by Ammon-Ra himself!"

The fragmented shouts threaded together in a chorus of applause and cheer, which only grew in mirth until they reached the highest part of the ceiling. The prince offered a huge grin to the crowd and puffed his chest as far as it could go. This was the happiest I'd ever see him. Truly, all eyes were on the birthday boy.

**-End - **

Note: Marshmallon cannot be destroyed in battle.

(1) Completely and utterly made-up due to my inability to find proper info on this sort of thing. However, "Sa-Re" means "Son of Ra."

Also, many thanks to the people from the BPC for finding me this info on Marshmallon.


End file.
